Speakers Reviews

The components which most affect -- by far -- the sound of your audio system are the speakers. And (except for electrostatic speakers costing thousands of dollars) the best sounding speakers currently available are those in the JBL studio series -- including the S38IIs. The S38IIs are superb sounding speakers with sweet, clean highs, a natual-sounding midrange, and clean, full bass. While they will handle lots of power, they sound great with moderately-powered amps and receivers. If for some reason you feel that you must have a larger woofer -- instead of the quite-adequate 8" woofer in the S38II -- I recommend the JBL S310II with a 10" woofer and the JBL S312II with a 12" woofer. But the vast majority of people should be quite pleased with the superb sound of the less-expensive S38IIs. Also the S38II speakers would make excellent rear speakers in a terrific-sounding JBL surround sound system.

I auditioned many speakers--looking for a great bookshelf speaker. I have small children and was afraid that a speaker on the floor would abused by the little ones. These JBL speakers sound incredible. I especially like how they produce clear high-frequency sounds--instead of sounding like mush. Also, they reproduce bass so well I don't feel like I need to add a subwoofer. They are extremely well-made and heavy and they have made me a JBL fan. I've had mine for about three years now and couldn't be happier. They are incredible speakers and well worth every penny.

For the price these are the best sounding speakers I have heard in a long time. Frequency response is great with no dead spots over the entire range. The 8 inch ported woofers give plenty of base response and the mirror image installation provides spectacular imaging even with relativly little speaker seperation, (about 5 feet in my entertainment center).

Power handling is great as well, my 150 watt per channel amp dosen't overpower these babies and the combination of the well constructed heavy cabinets and the self adhesive velcro feet provided with the speakers keep them from rattling on my shelves.

All in all I am very happy with these speakers and would reccomend them to anyone needing a great sounding set of bookshelf speakers.

After listening mp3 music with soundman x2, I am amazed by the sound reproduction quality from such compact speakers under $100. Very realistic. Much better than most multimedia speakers that produce only loud noise that lacks definition. I highly recommend soundman x2 to music lovers!

I've been searching for the ideal speakers for my computer and after look for along time I've decided to go with logitech. Though it is not as well know (in the speaker market) as Cambridge (creative) it does produce a great sound. When I saw the two satellites I thought "how small" and I started to regret the choice, but then as I plugged them in.... "WOH". The sound quality is amazing! Everyone loves my speakers, cause they look cool, but better than that it sounds great.

The sub-woofer gives a great bass (very good, as good as they come, for the size and price), satellites give a bigger sound than the actual size of the speaker.

Last of all the speaker don't have an on/off switch. It turns off when no sound is coming through (a timer, fuse, or something)!

I had made a hasty purchase at a computer show in Toledo, Ohio. I was not looking for anything special that day, but when I arrived at the location where the speakers were displayed they caught my eye. I tested the speakers and liked what I heard. I asked the price and offered them a lower price..... With hesitation they agreed to my price.... Sense then I have enjoyed the Logitech Soundman X2 speaker system greatly. I would recommend this product to anybody looking for a middle of the road price with a top of the line sound.

Thank you
Jack Frahn

When I bought these speakers I was very, very pleased with the quality of sound and the sleak design. Unfortunately, after about three months I started getting distortion even at very low volume levels. I talked to a speaker salesman that said I probably just got some lemons. A contributing problem is that I cannot get in touch with Monsoon. Their site is down [www.monsoonpower.com] and their new site has been "coming soon" for several weeks now [www.monsoonaudio.com]. Now I am stuck with once awesome, but now terrible sounding speaker.

This is an excellent set of 2.1 speakers for the price. I had a set of inexpensive Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 speakers which are ok for games - or music if you're not too picky about sound quality. They had great thumping bass for those explosions, but not what you want to hear for good quality music listening. I did a lot of searching for something that would be primarily for music and purchased these on the recommendation of several on the net. ... However, I think any 2.1 system in this price range is going to be a bit shy on the midrange and this set is no exception. ... they don't have the mid punch of a decent set of stereo speakers. But then, that's not what they are designed to do. 2.1 systems like this are designed to sound as good as they can while taking minimal space on a computer desktop, and having plenty of bass kick to add impact to computer games. This set hits that nail on the head while moving a step up to provide very good quality music listening as well. I think this set falls at the high quality end of the 2.1 range, equaling the sound of much more expensive units. If you want top notch stereo sound, buy stereo speakers and be prepared for them to take up a lot of space. Otherwise, buy these babies and you'll be a happy camper. Great dynamic range, better mid range than most 2.1's, full sounding at low volumes, takes the high volume end without faltering - this set won't disappoint. Oh ... and it sounds good on games too :-)

PROS
Wonderful sound, loud without distortion, strong tight bass, quality construction, re-designed controls.

CONS
No treble control.

SUMMARY
The PM-9 speakers have clean sound, tight bass and very high volume capability. I believe they are as good as the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 at just half the cost. Very highly recommended!

FULL REVIEW
I've had these speakers for a month and have used them daily. I loved them from the start and the feeling hasn't changed. I purchased these speakers to use for watching DVD's on my computer. I intentionally chose not to buy a surround speaker set because I'm in an RV with limited space.

These speakers are well built and have a very unique look. But their real strength is THE SOUND!!! I haven't found any weaknesses. The bass is never muddy. It can be cranked without distortion. The mids are strong and the highs are pure. The overall balance of sound is, in my opinion, just about perfect. I just finished watching my T2 DVD with the volume loud and the bass boosted. No distortion - no regrets.

At first I didn't think I'd like having the controls on a separate wired remote (my last speakers had controls on the right speaker). But now that I've used a remote for a month, I actually prefer it. And this particular remote is EXCELLENT. It contains volume, bass and mute. I wish it had treble, but that seems to be left off a lot of computer speakers these days. The volume control is large and easy to control. The feel as it moves is perfectly fluid. The bass control has a distinct center detent and plenty adjustability. It can add some serious kick to the bass! The mute button can be used as an on/off button (the actual on/off is on the back of the subwoofer). The remote also has a headphone jack which too many computer speakers are missing these days.

For those of you looking for digital input, this speaker set has it. However, I don't use it so cannot comment on it.

I spent over two weeks auditioning computer speakers in various stores and at friend's houses. The only other speakers I liked as well were the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1. In my opinion, the Planar Media 9 speakers sounded every bit as good as the Klipsch, but for only half the price. EASY DECISION! My advice - BUY THESE SPEAKERS!

Looking at the astoundingly low price of this system, you may be a bit worried about its capabilities, but rest assured that this set sounds very good. I was swayed by the great reviews, and they are all true! I have to admit, there is some slightly weak midrange and this is certainly not audiophile quality stuff... but for playing games or watching DVDs on your computer, this is a great buy.

This system is VERY loud if you want it to be. I love the desktop volume control 'remote' and the subwoofer's adjustable bass level. Compared to the harman kardon speakers that came with my system, these are much much much better.

To reiterate, these are not audiophile speakers, but the bang for the buck is incredible. They really can pump out the sound.

I recently had to upgrade my sound card and figured i'd replace the speakers to. I am a student with limited resources so when I saw the...price tag on these, I knew I had to get them. The sound quality is extremely high, and bass is very good. the only problem i have is the volume remote can be a bit touchy. however, if i could give a product six stars, this would be it.

Wow, that's what I said when I turned this on !
If you're a game adict, a music adict, or just a user who enjoys the good sound, well, let me tell you that this home theater is great.
In the games for example, the dolby 4.1 is great.....you can feel your oponent's steps...., the wind..., the water..., everything, the birds, it's like if you where there........, also when you listen to mp3 you feel like in a concert.
I've plugged them to my Creative Labs Sound Blaste Live Value!, and well, this is a great combo.
If you're not decided yet for them...., you should buy them...
they're cheap, and they give you a lot of watts !!

I've been looking for a convenient way to play music from my Tungsten T without headphones and this is it. I've looked at other portable speakers, but there were too many wires to them. The sound quality is quite good, it won't fill a room; but for personal listening or a small gathering of friends it works great. It takes three AAA batteries which seem to last quite awhile, I haven't had to change the batteries yet(it's been about three weeks since I've had it-but I don't use it continuously). The only thing missing is something to boost the bass, then again it's not designed to replace a boombox. There is another version with only one speaker built in, but it holds half the CD's. I only gave 4 stars because of the bass, it's still great addition to my collection of CD player, PDA, and MP3 player. Now if they could only come up with one with a multi-player connector...

I purchased this about 4 months ago and the only downfall to it at all is that at higher volume there is a bit of clipping. The battery life is decent (about 8 hours on 3 AA Batteries). convenient layout. Typically I would load 12 CDs along with a CD player as opposed to 24 cds. In doing so my discs and player were kept safe from damage, however with more bass-heavy discs, there was a bit of skipping even though my player has skip protection. When all is said and done though, this is a really solid product. It is of good enough quality that about 10 of my friends followed suit and bought them as well.

This summer my wife bought some travel speakers at Radio Shack for about $10-12. Terrible quality. So in anticipation of a trip to NZ, I did some research looking for travel speakers for my portable CD and stumbled across reviews in UK and Europe for this TDK product. The reviews sounded fantastic. Luckily I found the product on Amazon. They arrived last night and certainly fill the bill for very decent quality travel speakers. In fact, I can fit my CD player and 24 CDs in the softcase. If you consider the price, etc. - this is an excellent buy.

When you look at the price, a 6-channel 100 watt home theatre speaker system for [a fair amount of money] may sound like an excellent idea. Just make sure you know what your buying. Anyway, I bought these speakers as a temporary setup until I can afford some heavy-duty Cerwin Vegas. Overall, the audio output is great and the surround sound is excellent, but the subwoofer is just about dead. I thought it might of had to do with the CD format not being enhanced enough until I stumbled upon other people complaining about the same problem. When it comes to the bass, the speakers on my little RCA five-disc stereo blow these out of the water. However, I still think its worth the money and its a great system despite the fact it lacks in the low-treble area.

I have a Harmon Kardon AVR125 Receiver with Sony EQ and JVC DVD player matched with a pair of old ADS Tower Digital Speakers. I live in a relatively small apartment with fairly good acoustics. Recently, I have been looking for some satellite speakers as well as a decent center channel to finish the theatre concept. One of my basic factors was digital (preferably DTS) compatibility. My floor speakers are tremendous so I needed something that would compliment with out breaking the bank.

THESE SPEAKERS DO THE TRICK! Complete with four wall brackets and speaker wire, this is a complete program. The sound is crisp and full, producing Theater quality sound that is especially impressive for viewing DTS movies, sports from cable TV, and even PS2 games. Musically, I tweak the system a bit differently, but once set, the 'live' performances are a trip!

The subwoofer is the weakest link with this system, however, I feel an investment in better cables (Monster) would correct this, besides my floor speakers provide more than enough bass for both me and my neighbors needs. Therefore the subwoofer is of little concern to me.

I looked at the Bose satellite system and came away disappointed and discouraged by the price. Hence, to find these speakers with this high quality for this price $80 + $33 Shipping. This is a good system at twice the price, no kidding. These are perfect apartment speakers and are an especially great upgrade for a home theater system.

BTW, I used the extra speakers to hook up my bedroom! Chicks dig the ambience. 'Nuf said.

I recently purchased these speakers because my old ones died. I was looking for a good home theater system at a low price. These exceeded my expectations.

I have noticed a few people complaining about the sub. When I first hooked mine up with the pre-amp output on my receiver via the provided coaxial cable it had almost no sound. I then used a better cable, but got the same results. So I hooked it up through the front speaker outputs and then out came the bass. I don't know if this is because of my receiver or because of the sub. All I know is it fixed the problem. So you may want to try both installation techniques to see what works best with your system.

The speakers sound very good. The sub puts out substantial bass. A 6 speaker system at a very good price makes it difficult to beat.

Harman Kardon is selling this item for 25% less on its own website! buy it there!

Hooked it up to my flat pannel iMac running OS 10.2 and it didn't seem like it was working at first until I figured out that the defalt for the iSub has the mute box checked. I was also surprised at how loud it can actually go. I think it works best at about half it's potential volume with the pro speakers. It's really not worth [...] but I had a gift certificate and got half off. Look online for amazon coupons before you buy this one.

No complaints about the sound or looks here. Both are of course amazing. My one problem with the iSub however is it's USB interface. Because of this, certain things do not work as expected. Pluging in headphones will not mute the subwoofer, and neither will pressing the mute button on the keyboard. To turn off the iSub I have to unplug it, or go specifically mute it in the system preferences. This is extremely annoying to me, as I often hit the mute button to answer phone calls, and plug in headphones so I can continue listening to music when my roommates are studying or going to bed.

The problem is listed in apples support webpage as this:
Symptom : You connect headphones to your computer, but the iSub speaker's volume does not mute as you may expect.
Solution : The iSub is a subwoofer-type speaker designed to be used in conjunction with a pair of speakers. Your computer does not distinguish between analog headphones and analog speakers when you connect either to the computer's analog sound output port. Therefore it is the correct behavior for the iSub not to be muted. The iSub is muted if you connect USB headphones. Alternatively, disconnect the iSub when you do not wish to hear it.

I own the PowerMac Dual 867 running 10.2.4. My iSub is working alongside the apple pro speakers. If this problem may annoy you as well I would suggest looking at the JBL Creature Speakers.

I purchased these speakers back in September 2003. I had previously owned the Altec Lansing ATP3 3-Piece Speaker System and was immensely pleased with it. I wanted to upgrade, go surround-sound, and add more speakers for larger sound. Since I'd had good experience with Altec Lansing before, I chose them again over Logitech and Creative, and expected good quality from them.

My first gripe: too much bass. The subwoofer is overpowering. These speakers come with the ability to adjust both treble and bass. I have the bass set all the way to zero. I also set my bass through the Windows sound settings all the way to zero. I adjusted my media player equalizer the best I could to eliminate bass. The bass is still overpowering, to the point where, unless I am sitting directly in front of the central speaker, that is all I hear. I can hear/feel it all the way in my bathroom. It detracts from my audio enjoyment, as well as worries me that I'm disturbing my roommate and neighbors. The speaker volume has 5 points (with 'ticks' in between). I cannot play my speakers over 3, or the bass becomes floor-shaking. It seems that the default bass setting (ie 3 out of 5) should be an average bass output, while 0 should make it barely there and 5 should give it this intense bass that I'm getting now. This is the main reason I'm giving these 3/5 stars.

My second gripe is: distortion. At around volume 3, I will begin experiencing distortion. The audio begins to vibrate and warble just slightly, but it's enough to be noticeable and distracting. An audiophile (which I'm not) would be very unpleased, I think. Also, these speakers come with three 'sound schemes': Stereo x 2, 4.1 Gaming, and 5.1. Most noticeably when I'm in Stereo x 2, but also in 5.1 if my equalizer isn't set at default (ie. +0dB across the board), I will get ticks and squeaks during audio playback. Sometimes this doesn't happen, sometimes it happens constantly throughout a song, unless I turn the volume down. I haven't figured out if this might depend on the recording quality/volume of the mp3.

Overall, they have good sound, if kept at low volumes. But they don't seem to sound any better than a 2.1 system would, and they're definitely not of the quality I expect from a set of 130 dollar speakers. My recommendation: pass them up for something different. I really am more disappointed than pleased with these speakers. The bass really bothers me and, because of that, I'm probably gonna be looking for another speaker set sometime soon, unfortunately.

Whether you're watching movies, playing games or listening to music on your PC, you demand big sound. Two- and three-speaker systems just don't cut it. The Altec Lansing 5100 was designed for audio fanatics like you. This highly stylized, six-speaker system features five sets of 1" neodymium drivers for thrilling highs. A dynamic center speaker makes you feel like you're part of the on-screen dialogue. Plus, the subwoofer cranks out deep, rumbling bass that makes action movies and gaming truly intense. If you have a 5.1 Video card, this is what you were looking for. With 73 watts of total continuous power (100 watts peak), get ready to strap yourself in for a wild ride.

-73 Watts Total Continuous Power RMS (4x7 W/Satellites; 22.5 W/Center; 22.5 W/Sub)
-100 Watts Total Peak Power
-Ported, Dual Subwoofer Drivers
-6-Speaker Surround
-High Performance Micro Drivers
-Full-Function Digital Controller
-Headphone Jack
-Auxiliary Input Jack
-Total Connectivity
-Tri-Mode Selector
-Cast Alloy Stands
-Color-Coded Cables

I love these speakers. They're extremely easy to set up since they come with color-coded cables and everything is clearly marked. Once they're set up, they have great sound and excellent bass. Bass is sparse in cheaper speaker systems, but these have plenty of punch. They sound great, and work well for movies too. Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase and highly recommend them.

I bought these speakers for my backyard.I was very happy with the sound. Im run them with a little 50 watt amp. they sound great for the price.I was very pleased, I looked at speakers in 50watt range. I was looking at $75.00 price tag.If your looking for tons of bass this speaker not for you.The price and sound a good deal.

For the price they can't be beat! I shopped at BestBuy and CicuitCity and found that I'd have to spend 2 to 3 times as much for comparable sounding outdoor speakers. These speakers were easy to mount with the included free mounting brackets.

The speakers are efficient(I've mounted 2 pairs on my large screened porch and my amplifier is a relatively low powered unit).Sound is decent but not like you'd expect from more expensive bookshelf speakers in your den or living room. Expect the base to be weakest aspect of these speakers. The speakers can be powered to pretty high sound levels before noticable distortion.

Considering the price I've not seen anything else that can touch these speakers at this price point.

For the money, I am recommending these speakers to everyone I know. They sound great and get plenty loud. No, they won't knock your socks off with bass, but I am really impressed with the clarity of the sound.

I bought these speakers for my backyard.I was very happy with the sound. Im run them with a little 50 watt amp. they sound great for the price.I was very pleased, I looked at speakers in 50watt range. I was looking at $75.00 price tag.If your looking for tons of bass this speaker not for you.The price and sound a good deal.

For the price they can't be beat! I shopped at BestBuy and CicuitCity and found that I'd have to spend 2 to 3 times as much for comparable sounding outdoor speakers. These speakers were easy to mount with the included free mounting brackets.

The speakers are efficient(I've mounted 2 pairs on my large screened porch and my amplifier is a relatively low powered unit).Sound is decent but not like you'd expect from more expensive bookshelf speakers in your den or living room. Expect the base to be weakest aspect of these speakers. The speakers can be powered to pretty high sound levels before noticable distortion.

Considering the price I've not seen anything else that can touch these speakers at this price point.

For the money, I am recommending these speakers to everyone I know. They sound great and get plenty loud. No, they won't knock your socks off with bass, but I am really impressed with the clarity of the sound.